UNITED STEELWORKERS — SPECIAL REPORT
British Columbia is exporting millions of cubic
meters in raw logs. It’s
killing jobs, communities
and our province’s future.
Raw log exports kill jobs in
wood-products manufacturing
here in BC. According to BC
Statistics, for every job in timber harvesting we might enjoy
another five in manufacturing
– sawmills, pulp mills and
value-added plants. But that’s
only if we process those logs
here in BC. If we export the
logs, we export the jobs.
Today, we’re exporting rising volumes of logs to China, Korea and other Asian markets. Raw log advocates claim log
exports create jobs. But how
do they explain how we’ve lost
17,200 wood manufacturing
jobs and 7900 pulp and paper
jobs since 2000? And how in
the world do they explain how
we’ve lost 19,400 timber harvesting and forestry jobs – the
sectors where log-export are
supposed to create jobs?
Meanwhile, log exports have
skyrocketed, aided by BC Liberal and federal government
policies that have:
•
•
•
•
•
•
made it easier to export
logs;
relaxed log-export regulations;
allowed companies to close
mills whenever they want;
hampered lumber manufacturing;
removed cut-control regulations to help log exporters;
let companies remove thousands of hectares of forest
from Tree Farm Licences
with no compensation to
the people of BC.
In the 1990s, under the NDP,
raw-log exports fell. The government took steps to increase
value-added manufacturing
and protect jobs against mill
closures.
But under the BC Liberals
that’s all out the window. TimberWest and Island Timberlands – the two big exporters
responsible for over 90 percent
of raw-log shipments, are making huge profits but operating
no sawmills or other woodContinued on back...
British Columbia is exporting millions of cubic meters in raw logs.
It’s killing jobs, communities and our province’s future.
UNITED STEELWORKERS — SPECIAL REPORT
PAGE 2
BC Raw Log Exports
(1000 Cubic Meters)
BC Origin Log Exports
($,000,000)
3500
300
3000
250
2500
200
2000
Provincial Exports
Federal Exports
1500
United States
Japan
Mainland China
150
100
1000
500
50
0
0
19
87
19
88
19
89
19
90
19
91
19
92
19
93
19
94
19
95
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
20
00
20
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
processing plants. TimberWest’s average
return on exports is over 200 percent its average logging costs!
Today, we’re exporting rising volumes of
logs to China, Korea and other Asian markets. The premium on exports – an average
of $86/m3 compared to $57/m3 for logs
sold in BC – is driving up the prices BC mills
must pay and putting them out of business.
The jobs will be shipped to China unless we
act now.
The owners of TimberWest and Island Timberland make hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions to the BC Liberals. No wonder they’re allowed to export
millions of dollars worth of raw logs. And
no wonder they and other politicallyconnected forest companies were allowed to
take thousands of hectares out of the TFLs,
then sell them as real estate.
But it’s not just logs and real estate they’re
selling: they’re also selling off our future,
our kids’ futures and our communities’ futures.
enough. It’s time we got more BC jobs from
BC’s resources. We advocate:
• an immediate doubling of the provincial
fee in lieu of manufacturing from 15% to
30%;
• the provincial government should demand that the federal government institute an equivalent levy on federallyregulated private lands, where companies
currently pay virtually nothing to export
BC timber and jobs;
• shift the collection of Crown resource
rents from the stump to the back door of
the mill, a move which would make it easier and cheaper to add more value to our
timber and create more jobs;
• use returns from log export taxes and the
Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement
to create a fund that stimulates manufacturing investment.
With escalating log exports to China, we’re at
a crucial turning point: we can become nothing more than a log exporter, dependent on
the Asian market. Or we can create jobs here
in BC by sawing and manufacturing our logs
into useful products for the world. Our future is on the line! ♦
United Steelworkers say enough is
United Steelworkers District 3 Office
300 - 3920 Norland Avenue, Burnaby BC
604-683-1117
SRU90/jm